Tag: spring

Yes! We are reaching the start of summer which means TIME FOR A SPRING ROUND-UP. Today it has been very warm and I am generally feeling happy, which…well, makes a change. You may notice that I’m missing my usual picture with all my favourites; this is due to a combination of a) I don’t have loads of time now because reVISION *flails arms* and b) I don’t have any physical objects to arrange this time so it would just, be like, photoshopped images. And I’m not good enough to do make all of that work.

1. Twelfth Night I saw this play at the National and WOAH it was so good! The production was honestly stunning — as in, like, the set was beautiful and the live music was beautiful. It was just so pleasing to the senses. Malvolia was…really different to what I was expecting, and two years since reading the play I am still mad at the ending, but overall I loved it a lot.

2. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas I couldn’t stop thinking about this book, even once I had put it down. Beautiful, writing, a powerful story — it definitely lived up to the hype, and it’s one of my best reads I can remember.

3. Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg To be honest, I initially downloaded it because it was cheap on Kindle, but I ended up enjoying it a lot! I NEED TO GET THE SEQUEL NOW, GODAMMIT.

4. Dodie Soooo, in March I was lucky enough to be able to see Dodie on her UK tour with my friends, and it was SO FUN. I’d actually never been to a concert before, and it was so lovely to see Dodie just generally being wonderful and great and music. The band, including the warm-up act Rusty Clanton, were also great, and now I’ve been introduced to some new music!

5.The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla I’ve wanted to read this for a while, so I was really excited to see it the school library! Each essay was different, but each one brought something different, and made me think hard.

6. Las Chicas del Cable Both me & my mum are learning Spanish, so we decided to watch this show on Netflix about women in 1920s Madrid. (It is dubbed, but I’m watching in Spanish with English subtitles.) The production is just gorgeous, and although at times it feels a bit melodramatic there is feminism and queer women and so much to love!!

7. Hidden Figures Aaah! This was awesome!It was great to see the stories of these super smart & inspiring black women told, and I also feel like a learnt History Stuff. *nods*

Amber @ The Mile Long Bookshelf wrote an awesome guide for young people voting in the upcoming UK General Election.

Olivia @ Books and Big Ideas wrote a super smart post about 13 Reasons Why, and the Prestige TV audience.

in the diary:

Well, I had a music exam… It didn’t go quite to plan, but I think I still passed, so fingers crossed! I might even get my results by the time this post is actually published. *winces a little at the thought*

We had a big family gathering for my aunt’s 60th birthday over the bank holiday, which was super nice because we rarely ever get together — my mum is one of 7 — and I got to see my super cute little cousins!

Exams are coming up so, erm, I have some fun revision to look forward to. -_-

I managed to survive my overnight walk for cadets at school, which I’m pretty pleased about! I’m rather ache-y now, but we did walk 35k, and our team only got super lost once which I think is impressive haha.

I went to a Witch, Please meetup! *screams a bit* Although I had to leave early, it was SO COOL AND WONDERFUL.

ALSO IT WAS EUROVISION. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND EXCELLENT and basically just a nice thing in the not-great world. Plus, I managed to convince my friends to be Eurovision fans, hehe 😉

Probably some other stuff happened, but quite frankly I can’t remember it at this point. I’m off to see the new Studio Ghibli movie The Red Turtle tomorrow, which I’m rather excited for.

how have you been? seen any good movies recently? are you taking any exams?

I haven’t made a new playlist in what feels like absolutely ages — okay, I just looked it up and AUGUST; I need to find a playlist prompts thing — and I have also been listening to some rad new music lately. This is a bit of a mixed playlist, but I suppose it’s just a collection of songs that make me think of April! I hope you enjoy 😀

Hey April

for the of threading daisy chains on the damp grass. for the ripening citrus summer. for the sun through the clouds as it rains, splintered but bright.listen on spotify / youtube

i love you (but i’m leaving) – rusty clanton

absolutely smitten – dodie

past lives – børns

don’t take the money – bleachers

happy with me – holychild

bwu – tegan and sara

don’t kill my vibe – sigrid

feel it still – portugal. the man

the wire – haim

edge of town – middle kids

I KNOW. TEN SONGS. More than usual, right? But what can I say, I’ve been hearing some good tunes. Last month was pretty cool for me because I got to go see Dodie on tour with some of my friends which I am STILL SCREAMING ABOUT. Rusty Clanton was the opening act, and I hadn’t heard of him before but I really liked his music, so!

I actually sincerely want to find a music playlist prompts thing, because I used to love doing the one that went around this corner of the blogosphere. MAYBE I SHOULD JUST MAKE ONE. Hmm. *strokes beard*

The sun is shining, and although it might still be a bit chilly, it feels like spring has arrived! I’m excited for the warmer weather to start creeping in — as well as the Easter holidays — so I thought that whilst I’m in a spring-y mood it would be fun to do this book tag. Thanks nevillegirl @ Musings From Neville’s Navel for tagging me!

FLOWERS

Look on your shelves. What is the most beautiful book both inside and out?

Ooh, I had so many contenders for this one! This picture definitely doesn’t do my copy of A Tale For The Time Being justice… I love the minimal cover but also it just FEELS SO NICE. The hardcover is like, kind of weaved together and it has a sort of slightly textured feel? This might sound weird but it’s just SO NICE to hold in your hand. (I am so chuffed I got this unread at a jumble sale, guys.) The text itself is beautiful, too; it’s not normally a genre that I would read in but I was so impressed at the different narrative voices!

GRASS

What is a book that you find others like way more than you do?

Everyone seems to really love All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Whilst I did enjoy it, I just couldn’t really connect with the characters and it had a bit of a ‘meh’ feel for me. I would quite like to try her newest book, Holding Up the Universe, though. It seems very interesting!

RAIN

What’s a great book that lifts your spirits when you’re down?

If I’m not feeling awesome, I like to read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. I think it’s such a well-written, nuanced book, and although it’s not completely positive all the time it makes me feel…that there are good and wonderful humans out there?

DEW

What book made you feel alive?

Hmm… A Conjuring of Light was such a good experience for me. I think reading a hyped up book can always be difficult, and sometimes it can change your relationship with a series or author, but it’s one of my absolute favourite feelings to devour and love a book I’ve really been looking forward to.

STORMS

What book did you find unpredictable?

Far From You by Tess Sharpe. Though I don’t read thriller-y books that often, this one really pulled me in. It did that awesome thing where the twist just starts to dawn on you right as it’s revealed, which is exactly how I like it!

RAINBOW

What was a book that you struggled with only to be happy that you read it in the end?

I just finished Bone Gap by Laura Ruby this morning. I didn’t enjoy it so much so start with, probably because I wasn’t getting much time to read it either, but today I just sat down and read the whole 2nd half in one go because I was SUPER ABSORBED WITH IT. I’m really pleased that I persevered with it! (I feel like Les Mis could also go in here. I still think that was a month of Fandom Dedication on my part, to be honest.)

CHILLY WEATHER

What’s a book that you couldn’t finish or didn’t enjoy?

HHhH by Laurent Binet. I did get around half of the way through, but I just wasn’t enjoying it, and I didn’t think it was worth continuing. I found the discussion how historical fiction represents history and indeed truth really interesting, but…it just wasn’t presented in a way I found engaging. I never got lost in it, I guess.

WARM WEATHER

What book did you love and want more of?

Curse Workers by Holly Black. I AM CONSISTENTLY UPSET BY THE LACK OF TALK AROUND THIS. I think that the worldbuilding is just so stellar, and I’d really love to read more stories set within it — perhaps not even with the characters in the trilogy, but UGH IT SEEMS LIKE SUCH A WASTE.

GREEN

What book have you not read yet but really want to?

I’ve been hearing SO MANY wonderful things about The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and I can’t wait to read it!

PINK

What book made you feel a strong connection to the characters?

I could say Radio Silence, but I feel like I mention it about 23071 times a day so I SHALL CHOOSE SOMETHING ELSE. I thought Remix by Non Pratt did a great job at getting me to care deeply for all the characters! Even though many of them didn’t have stuff in common with me, and were pretty darn annoying at times, I really empathised with them. So, yeah.

PURPLE

What book makes you feel safe when you read it?

Maaybe Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour? I think this could be a lot of things, but that book just made me feel so happy and warm inside every time I picked it up to read it.

ORANGE

What book do you feel is intelligently written?

I had to think quite a lot about this, because on one hand: I think a lot of books I read could qualify for this, but also I DON’T KNOOOW. I just know whether I enjoyed them! But I decided to go with Asking For It by Louise O’Neill. Although it wasn’t the easiest read for me, it raised a lot of interesting questions about our culture and how we treat sexual assault.

YELLOW

What book puts a smile on your face?

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson still makes me so happy. I love going back to it and remember when my friends & I read it as a webcomic in Lower School (I can’t remember if it was Year 7 or Year 8 haha). I also just adore the characters, the art, all the Nimona in-jokes…it’s like having a chat with a super funny best friend.

what is the weather like where you are? which books would you pick for this? is there a season you particularly like? let me know!